


A Hero's Guilt

by avescallaghan



Series: Assassins in Training [1]
Category: Deadly Class (Comics), Deadly Class (TV), deadly class
Genre: F/M, Gen, Guilt, Hallucinations, Hurt/Comfort, Mentions of Murder, Psychological Trauma, minor psycho trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-05
Updated: 2019-02-05
Packaged: 2019-10-22 17:22:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17666846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/avescallaghan/pseuds/avescallaghan
Summary: The act of completing Willie's assignment for him has left Marcus traumatized. And his self-destruction was noticed by a few. Dani was one of them. How could she help?





	A Hero's Guilt

**Author's Note:**

> This was posted on my tumblr as a Reader Fic, but I'm changing it for this site.

She arrived at the party when it was in full swing. And by full swing, it meant that the once beautiful house was very nearly in shambles. There were broken glass and furniture on the floor, crumbs of food and spilled drinks on every surface and other things you didn't care to know. It was total carnage. It was exactly what she expected.

Shaking her head, Dani made her way inside. The atmosphere was slightly different than the one on school grounds. Outside, the line that separates Legacy and Rat blurred just a smidge. Everyone was almost equal. So, nodding at Saya and Viktor, she tried to find her way to the kitchen, where she knew the prize was at.

"So I'm post up, trying to do what I gotta." She heard Willie as she passed. Dani knew about the assignment, even though she didn't have that class that semester, how apparently he was the only one that passed. Hell, everyone knew judging by how many times Willie had been telling the story.

"He comes at the dome, dives back, hit him with one, pop right back up back in my face..."

The rest of it was lost in the background as she rounded the corner. And almost got hit by Marcus' flying bottle of Vodka.

Her eyes met his and she quirked an eyebrow in question. "You okay?'

"Yeah," He shrugged teeth gritted before pulling on his headphones and flicking his Walkman on.

Dani rolled her eyes. She didn't know why she cared. If it was Lex or Petra self-destructing, she wouldn't have done anything past asking. But it was _different_ with Marcus. She had known him for all of two days and already she felt a certain pull toward him. She knew it was because of this weird hero-complex he has going on and no matter how many times she and Billy and Petra and Lex told him that there was no place for compassion at King's, he still insisted on stepping up for people. And if Dani was actually honest with herself, she would admit that she found it very intriguing.

She left him by himself and went on to the kitchen to get herself a drink. Grabbing a solo cup, she poured in some of Shabnam's parents' most expensive booze.

She kept to herself for most of the night, drifting from talking to Petra to the kitchen back around to just walking amongst her classmates, watching what everyone was up to and minding her own business.

It wasn't until she heard Willie, once again telling his, most definitely, exaggerated story that Dani noticed something was wrong. Out of nowhere, Marcus stormed into the room and got in Willie's face.

"All fucking day, listening to you brag," He snarled as he came in, grabbing Willie by the jacket. "Why don't you shut the fuck up?"

Without hesitation, she was suddenly between them, pushing Marcus behind her as Willie pushed some of his boys back.

And then, just like that Marcus disappeared, out the front door. She watched him go, concern and confusion starting to mount.

Willie made to follow, but Dani stepped in his way. "Willie, no, please,"

The taller boy looked at her, truly looked at her, and said. "I'mma just talk to him."

She could tell that talking actually mean talking then and she stepped aside. Dani trusted Willie more than the rest of the Legacy. He never really bothered her and the other Rats.

It didn't just end with Willie, though. Marcus kept starting fights with everybody, calling Lex out on his bullshit, throwing beer in Brandy's face.

That one was a close one. If Dani and Saya hadn't been there to pull him away, she was certain someone was going to end up in the infirmary, or jail.

"Goddamnit Marcus, are you trying to get yourself killed?" She asked as he tore himself away from the both of them. "What's going on with you?"

"Nothing, I'm fine!"

"This is about Willie, isn't it?" Saya spoke up. "The assignment."

Marcus immediately turned away, running. "No... not on me... He did it."

"Okay, then why are you the one dealing with it?" Saya shouted at his back.

When he rounded the corner and vanished, she finally turned to her classmate. "What do you mean?"

Saya hesitated. "Nothing..."

"Saya~"

"It's not mine to share, Dani."

"Shit!" She ran a hand through her hair. "This is not good."

"Yeah, no shit."

Not good was right. Dani could see it after that, that something was eating at him, eating him from the inside. She wanted to talk to him, but there in the middle of the party where almost everyone from school was present, you knew for a fact that you wouldn't get anything out of him.

And then, just as she thought it couldn't get worse, Lex happened, and then right after that,

"COPS!"

It was hell. Everyone began running for their life, stumbling over furniture, trash and everything else in their haste. In all the confusion, Dani lost sight of Marcus. Heart in her throat, she scrambled out following the rest of her schoolmates.

"Marcus!" Dani called the moment she stepped on the porch. And then, she saw him on the pavement, shoulders hunched, hands clutching his head, obviously in distress. There were the screeching of tires and two cop cars pulled over in front of the house. She pushed forward, trying to get to him but it proved difficult when a barrage of frantic students rammed against her. Thankfully, she saw Willie.

"Willie!" His eyes met her's. "Marcus!" She tried to point, but there was no need. Within moments, Willie was beside him. Dani struggled to untangle herself and managed just in time to reach the boys.

"C'mon. Let's get outta here." She urged, taking a hold of Marcus and helping Willie block him from the cops.

"I can't do this. I can't do this." He kept murmuring and being shorter, it was easier for Dani to hear him.

"You can't do what? Willie, what does he mean?"

"How the hell should I know?"

"I know you were involved. And I know it's about the assignment." She helped Marcus into the car and followed him in. She waited until Willie has pulled away from the cub to ask. "What? Did he do it for you?"

Silence.

"Motherfu- He did, didn't he? That's why you couldn't sleep last night." She directed at Marcus.

"What are you talking about? I'm fine." He answered blearily and Dani very nearly slapped him.

xxx

Together with Willie, Dani made sure Marcus made it to his bed that night. The moment she flicked his lights on, however, Marcus tensed.

She nodded to Willie and the boy nodded back. He made her a promise in the car. He would have Marcus' back when he needed it, and she would keep her mouth shut.

Left alone, she followed Marcus in and sat next to him on the bed.

"You should have said something." She spoke after a while.

"And say what? That- that Willie couldn't pull the trigger? That I bashed Rory's face in until his brain turned to soup? I'm a Rat, Dani. A psycho and a Rat. They'll never believe me."

"I'm not talking about them. Fuck them!"

"Yeah, well, I can't snitch on Willie. He won't survive it."

And there it was. The hero, back again. It didn't matter that he was losing sleep, going out of his mind, haunted by the image of his kill. Marcus still chose to put someone else in front of him.

Sighing, she rose and flit about his room and finding a clean shirt toss it at him. "Change. You reek."

"Yeah, like you're any better." He rolled his eyes, but still did as she told. He was fighting sleep. She could see that on the way his movements were slow and sluggish, how his eyelids drooped a touch longer than the previous.

Shaking her head, Dani pushed him onto the bed, pulling the scratchy covers over him. Still, he struggled against her.

"No, I'm not-"

"Just lie down, Marcus!" She snapped, sitting by his side and after a little hesitation, reached out to play with his hair. His eyelids drooped longer and he sighed, almost deflating.

"Just so you know, I still think what you did was stupid. There are many other ways to self-destruct than picking fights with Brandy of all people." Dani smiled when he chuckled.

"You gotta admit. She had it coming." He yawned.

"Yes, she did." She whispered as slowly, Marcus drifted to sleep.

Once She were sure he was gone, she exited his room only to bump into Saya coming down the hall. She looked partially guilty but partially relieved as well. You wondered what it could be about, but she shook her head quickly. Better not snoop around the Kuroki Syndicate, they're just not worth the trouble.

 


End file.
